The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has secured a non-bailable arrest warrant against a Greater Kailash-based hawala dealer Dharmendra Singh Anand, a close associate of controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi, in money laundering case. Now, the ED would approach the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with a formal request to issue a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Anand.
A CBI officer explained the procedure of issuing RCN saying, "Once the ED puts a formal request before CBI for a RCN against Anand, his case file would get reviewed. It would be decided what colour of notice needs to be issued against him — Red or Yellow — as he is not a hardcore criminal or terrorist."
The complete process takes normally one to two days. "Once decision is taken, CBI will request Interpol to issue the required notice, worldwide - so that Anand could be arrested from any corner of the world and handed over to the ED officials," said the CBI officer.
Sources said that they suspect that Anand is hiding in Thailand. There is also case against Anand in london and he is also wanted by the British Police. "Soon after a case was registered against Anand, he fled and went into hiding," said a source.
In March after Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), ED's parlance for FIR, was registered, the agency had carried out searches at Anand's residences and had recovered over Rs 3 crore in cash.
The ED conducted searches at Damini Travel Related Services Pvt ltd./ Damini Forex ltd at M Block Market at Greater Kailash-I area of the national capital , for indulging in large scale international hawala activities to/from Dubai, Hong Kong, U.K USA, China, Thailand, Canada, Australia among others.
The agency alleged that Anand, owner of these companies, is involved in exchanging huge foreign currency without proper documentation. Anand had undertaken hawala transactions for Qureshi. From the office premises of Anand, the agency seized Indian currency worth over Rs 6. 43 lakh and foreign currency equivalent to Rs 52.66 lakh.
In addition, incriminating documents and electronic devices were also seized during the searches. From the residential premises of Anand, the ED seized Indian currency worth over Rs 2.06 crore, foreign currency equivalent to over Rs 46.11 lakh.
Anand is a close aide of Qureshi, who was arrested on Friday in the case and was produced in the court on Saturday from where he has been sent to police custody till August 31.
The ED, which was probing the role of Qureshi for quite some time, took cognisance of the FIR by the CBI, which had registered a case against former CBI director AP Singh and Qureshi. The CBI had booked its former chief Singh, Qureshi, his employee Aditya Sharma, owner of Trimax group of companies Pradeep Koneru and other unknown persons last month over alleged illegal favours being exchanged between government officials, businessmen and other private players.
The ED had earlier booked Qureshi in 2015, based on an Income Tax prosecution case. But this is the first time it has booked Singh on criminal charges under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA).
The agency's action could have far-reaching implications as Qureshi's links with former CBI Director AP Singh are under lens.